Mass Effect: Awakening
by ButterflyJMan
Summary: After his colony was destroyed, Julian Zero goes out into the galaxy to find a new life but haunted by his past, Confused about his feelings for an alien and out for revenge, Julian will either do the impossible or be destroyed in the process.
1. Prologue

**Mass Effect**

**Awakening**

**Prologue**

_"Journal update, Final Entires, I've been on the run for 48 hours straight, I haven't slept in even longer, I'm being hunted but that's not why my heart is racing feeling like it's going to beat right out of my chest, Something about all this just seems wrong, I feel like I've failed but from what i can remember this is the way we planned it, Everything was working the way I hoped maybe not the way i expected but i guess life has a way of kicking you that way....."_

_ "I've caught a break for the moment, I don't hear the madning footsteps as much as i was before but i know they're there, they're just like me maybe even better and wont stop until I'm a trophy on their wall, I guess that's what happens when you piss off the wrong people, But they wont catch me, The local Varren will tear them apart long before they find me....."_

_ "It's still hard for me to believe what all we accomplished, I was just some dumb kid from a colony no one ever knew existed going nowhere in life and now I'm being hunted by some of the most powerful and dangerous people and aliens in the galaxy, They wouldn't have pissed on me if i was on fire before but i guess screwing with how they make their money made them piss themselves, But I'm not afraid of them and that's not what's bothering me, I've got a thought that keeps coming back to me, I cant seem to get rid of it but maybe that means it's suppose to be there, Whatever the reason I'm glad it keeps coming back, I feel at peace when i think about her....."_

_ "She was Quarian and she was more beautiful than any human, I didn't need to see past her helmet to know that, Most human guys like the Asari, I guess because they resemble us more than other aliens, But the whole Mono-Gendered thing is just weird to me, One of the guys went out with an Asari once and the next mourning he found out she was the guy so to speak in her last relationship, I've never tried to understand alien mating for that reason, But anyway people has always told me that Quarians were nothing but scavengers and thieves but that's like comparing them to those damn Vorcha, It's easy to label others when you know nothing about them or their way of life, Her name was Eli'Zera Vas Ethia Nar Rayya, I've always liked how Quarian names sounded....."_

_ "They found me, I let my guard down for a minute and that was a mistake, I've been shot and I'm bleeding pretty bad, But they wont win, They can't win, To be honest i never thought I'd last even this long but i remembered what's worth fighting for, I guess you could say those thoughts have Awoken me, My vision is starting to blur now, I feel my body going numb but I'm so out of it i don't even know which part of me is, I know what must be done though, The mission must be completed, I know they're thinking that it's almost over, They think they're closing in on the end, But the battle is just beginning....."_

_ "This will be my final entry, No more running at least not right now, After weeks of wandering through this jungle I find myself to be trapped between a cliff with a 100 foot drop and some blood thirsty Mercs, They still don't realize though that they're not the one's I'm really running from, They're getting closer I can hear the rabid sounding Varren, One way or another this will be over soon, In case the worse should happen I am Butterfly I still cant use my real name, I am a Mercenary but not like you would think, I guess you could say this is just another day in the life, If anyone finds this don't look for me I'm long gone, But the next few minutes will determine wether that means I'm alive or dead, Butterfly out."_

Covered in blood stains with bullet holes in his armor, half his body numb and the other half throbbing with pain, The young Mercenary Butterfly closes his holo-journal and tossed it to the side in the light brush of the jungle on the cliff top where he stared out across the massive canyon, he turned to hear the trampling of small tree's and shrubs by Krogan Bloodpack Mercs with their Vorcha Scouts and the deafening howls and growling of the Varren following his blood trail through the forest.

_"I see him, Straight ahead on the cliff", _one of the Vorcha screeched as he pulled his weapon from It's holster, _"Nothing that way but a watery grave, Ha stupid human, Did he really think he could out run a Krogan in this element"_, grunted the Krogan Bloodpack warrior Krill as he lead his Mercs closer to Butterfly to claim their trophy, seeing the Bloodpack moving in fast Butterfly had one last idea, he reached up and took off his helmet then pulled out his last grenade, he dropped it in and placed it carefully on the ground, and he stood motionless as the Mercs confronted him.

_"So the infamous Butterfly, you don't look so tough now, Can't fight without your team so you run like a coward, Malfur is paying the biggest bounty any hunter has seen for your head, And he wants you to know that he'll be sure to put your head next to that Quarian bitch when he finds her, and we both know he will find her", _Krill growled with full confidence that this was Butterflies final moments, but Butterfly had other plans, he had snuck his hands around to his back while Krill was ranting on where he had two pistols secretly strapped, normally a pistol wouldn't do much to Krogan's with their armor like skin added with their battle armor and shields but at this range it would do little more than tickle and all Butterfly had to do was catch them off guard just for a moment, he gripped the handles tighter as he began to say _"Tell Malfur that he, his Dynasty Mercs, his friends in the Blue Suns, Eclipse, Bloodpack and who ever else that sick bastard has on his payroll can all...", _he gripped his guns even tighter, closed his eye's and took a deep breath, and in his head he was counting down _"Three, two, one", _Butterfly then ripped the pistols off his back as he leaped up in the air and back off the cliff _"Go To Hell!", _He screamed while firing shots taking out the Vorcha's legs while Krill stood virtually unharmed saying to himself _"What a waste", _he then reached for his shotgun expecting Butterfly to make a counter attack at him, he didn't think that Butterfly would be crazy enough to actually jump off a 100 foot cliff but as he moved slowly over to the edge of the cliff he heard a slight beeping from behind him, he turned around to see Butterflies helmet and noticed faint light flashing rapidly inside it and knew right away what it was, but it was to late, the grenade went off in Krill's face, scorching his skin, burning through his armor, with pieces of the helmet digging into him from the force of the blast, it burned his eye's and he was blinded as he screamed in agony, an instant later the side of the cliff began to break apart and crumble below Krill's feet taking him along with his Bloodpack all the way down to the riverbed 100 feet below.

_Several Hours Later_

The cliff top and jungle region where Krill had hunted Butterfly and ultimately met his end was now covered for miles with dozens of Dynasty Mercs searching for any clues to Butterfly's location, and on that very cliff side stood a man feared throughout the galaxy, the man responsible for more corruption than all the Merc gangs and politicians combined, James Malfur, the Galaxy's richest, most dangerous, virtually unstoppable Mercenary, his reputation had always kept anyone that would oppose him in fear of him but some low life nobody that crawled from the gutters thought it would be fun to play Mercenary and ended up scarring Malfur for life, and Malfur wasn't going to let this go, he would hunt Butterfly to the end of the universe if he had to.

Malfur had found the holo-journal that Butterfly had been using and was taking his time listening to every entry carefully, one of the Mercs then approached him _"Sir, this area is clear, no sign that Butterfly has been here for hours, and we got word from Search Team Alpha, they found what's left of Krill and his Vorcha in the river below, no signs of Butterfly there either Sir", _Malfur waited a minute before acknowledging the Merc, finishing what he was listening to, he then turned to him smirking slightly, took his cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it on the ground stepping on it to make sure it was out _"Of coarse not, Butterfly is long gone, Tell Alpha to leave Krill where he lays, He failed and that is a worthy end for him, And tell the men to pull out, We're going home", "Is it over sir", _said the Merc hesitantly, _"Not by far", _Malfur finished now grinning.

With his men pulling out and the search over Malfur layed the holo-journal back down on the trail where it could be seen easily, _"Your right Butterfly, This is only the beginning, I look forward to your return whenever that might be, I know what your really running from", _Malfur stood a minute looking over the horizon and up at the stars and then he pulled out an Omni-Tool and sent an anonymous message to the rest of the Crescent Moons _"I'm sure your friends will be glad to hear that your still alive, especially that Quarian, I've always been more of an Asari guy myself ha ha ha", _Malfur then stepped into his shuttle and was taken back to his incredible warship_ "The Crying Prothean"._


	2. Chapter 1

**Mass Effect**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 1 **

_5 Years Earlier_

_"Journal Log Entry 1, I found this holo-journal today on the shuttle, I asked the captain about it but he couldn't tell me whose it was so i just kept it, It only had one entry in it and all it said was The War Is Over and some sort of code, Maybe a combination 12 15 2245 28 2160, I assume it belonged to a soldier but that was awhile ago, This is an older model holo-journal but it will work for me, My name is Julian Zero, That's not my real last name but I've never known it, and Zero has always worked for me, My parents were killed 15 years ago in a Merc war, I don't know the details I was only 5 at the time, Me and my brother Edward stayed with many families over the years, no one would adopt us though, He went on to a better life off world and i lost contact with him within the year, That was 8 years ago, our birth colony was a place called Liberty Run out in the Terminus System where Alliance and Citadel authority couldn't find us, We was a colony that no one cared about anyway, Didn't bother me though, I liked the seclusion but i had to get out of there, I was going nowhere fast, I'm gonna see what the universe has to offer so I'm taking a shuttle to Belum to see my brother again, Maybe he can share some of that better life with me, I know he found one, He was the smartest kid i knew, Maybe he's a rich scientist now, Some of my friends left with Ed, Maybe I'll try to find them to....."_

_ "I've never met an alien before, Liberty Run kept them out, Even the Merc gangs were all Human, But when we stopped to refuel I saw that the station was full of aliens, It was different and familiar at the same time, They look so different than us but act the same, But I could tell that some of them just didn't like Humans, I think those were called Turians....."_

_ "I met a Quarian today, She was on her pilgrimage, I've heard alot about Quarians so i was careful while talking to her, But she was nice, Charming even, I like the accent she had while talking, I learned long ago to form my own opinions about people, I guess that applies to aliens now to, And I liked her, I'm curious to what they really look like though, Maybe they're horrible hideous aliens, Maybe they're beautiful angelic aliens I don't know, but i do know her body looked nice in that suit, I'd like to see her again but what are the chances of that, It's a big universe....."_

_ "Finally we're approaching Belum, The view is amazing, I'm nervous though, This is the start of a brand new life, Everything I've known for the past 15 years doesn't matter now, Maybe I'm more excited than nervous, Finally going to do something with my life, I just don't know what yet, When I find Ed maybe he can help me, If he even knows me anymore, It's been 8 years, This is kind of a surprise visit, I'm glad i found this journal, It really helps to calm the nerves, well It's time, My new life awaits, Better not keep it waiting to long."_

The shuttle doors opened to a world completely different than anything the young man has ever known, Julian stepped down to see what Belum had to offer and he saw a whole new experience, He was from a small farming colony and this was a huge thriving city full of businesses, It was almost overwhelming, And the population was made up of so many different species, Humans, Turians, Asari, Krogan, Volus, Batarians, Elcor, He couldn't keep track of them all, So many different languages, So many different cultures, It was amazing, but in all this one thing managed to stand out, Their were no Quarians, He counted a dozen different species but didn't see one Quarian,_ "I guess everyone feels the same about them", _Julian thought to himself feeling slightly disappointed, The Quarian he met he enjoyed being around more then most Humans from his home world and he only just met her, But he didn't let that bother him to much, This was his new beginning.

Julian couldn't believe all that he has seen, All those years on Liberty Run thinking that was as good as it gets, This place had everything and more, He was so distracted he spent hours roaming he streets and almost forgot about finding his brother, As he was walking through the street starring at the massive skyscrapers that seemed hypnotizing to him, He accidently ran into a Krogan, And he was huge, Standing over 8 foot tall, Julian has only ever heard of how large Krogan's were but still never expected this, The Krogan turned to him and grabbed Julian's throat and lifted him up to eye level _"Watch it Human", _He growled, A Batarian then walked out from around the Krogan _"Drop the trash Krill, The boss wants no distractions", _The Krogan then tossed Julian aside like nothing and went on with his business, And as Julian tried to catch his breath he looked at the Batarian again, His armor seemed familiar _"Blue Suns", _He whispered to himself. Julian then lost himself in a flashback from his childhood, The night he lost everything.

_"Can someone help me, Mom, Dad, Anyone, I can't see, Everything is cold, I'm scared, Is anyone there", _Cries from the little boy went unanswered as gunshot upon gunshot echoed through the night, Screams were heard all over, Children without parents wandered into strangers arms looking to find shelter but only to find the cold evil of men looking for blood, Innocent men, Women, And children slaughtered for no reason.

_"Why is this happening, I just want it to stop", _Julian emerged from the safety of the bunker under his home, Tears in his eye's, And shaking with fear, To see buildings burning, Gored body's laying everywhere and everything he once knew turning to ash, He wandered the streets crying, Trying to find his parents but with no luck, Gun shots continuing to be fired in what seemed to be every direction, The sounds causing a pulsing unbearable strain in the boys head, He dropped to his knee's with his hands over his ears and his eye's closed screaming _"Why won't it stop", _A man with blue armor walked towards him, Julian looked up at his eye's, They were cold, Unfeeling, The man reached around to his back and pulled out a shotgun and pointed it right at Julian_ "Sorry kid, Wrong place, Wrong time", _The boy closed his eye's again, lowered his head and clinched his teeth, He heard the gun go off but he was unharmed, He looked up to see that the man's head had exploded, Someone else had pulled the trigger first and Julian was covered in the blood and remains, He jumped up and franticly tried to brush the bloody gore off himself, It was horrifying.

Julian was now running, He had to get away from it, It was to much for him to take, So much destruction and death, he wanted to find his parents so they would make it better, But while he was running he seemed to come across a part of town he didn't recognize, He was lost, So he wandered around through alleys trying to find his way back only to come up on the worst thing he could possibly imagine, His parents body's shredded with gun shot wounds burning in a fire, He ran to them not accepting what he saw, He tried to reach in the fire but he couldn't take the scorching and burning so he pulled out but he was scarred with unimaginable pain and loss, He then layed on the ground crying in a puddle of tears of sadness and pain.

Julian layed there for what seemed to be forever to him, He couldn't move and he didn't feel like going on anymore, But then he started to hear someone yelling and it sounded like they was calling his name, But still he couldn't move _"Julian!", _They continued to scream, louder and louder as they got closer to him, He opened his mouth but nothing came out, A man then ran up to Julian and leaned over to hi to see if he was still breathing _"Let's get you out of here kid, It's over, You don't need this anymore", _The man then took Julian away to a safer place.

Everything started to come back slow to Julian, He had a bad headache and it only seemed to get worse the more he woke up _"Oh man, I feel like a shuttle landed on me", _He thought to himself while trying to regain his senses, When he opened his eye's everything was blurry so he blinked a few times to clear everything, And he started to see a figure form the more his vision cleared, He jerked in surprise, When his was fully clear he saw it was a Quarian.

_"Eli, Eli'Zera?", _He said shocked to see her.

_"I'm impressed, Most Humans can't tell us apart, Especially after an episode like you just had", _

_"Just a feeling I guess", _Julian said while trying to work up a grin, He guessed she was doing the same.

_"I hope your alright, You looked pretty bad there for awhile", _She said with concern.

_"I'm fine, Just a nightmare that's all", _

_"I didn't realize Human's liked to take naps in the middle of busy intersections", _This time he could tell she was joking so he thought he would play along.

_"I guess you haven't met the right one then", _She giggled lightly and Julian smiled at her.

_"It's nice to see a friendly face, So to speak", _

_"It's good to see you to, I've never talked to a Human before, Your actually the first alien I've talked to since I started my pilgrimage, My people don't have a good reputation among other species, Most people just ignore me ", _Julian didn't need to see her expression to know that this upset her and that she was lonely, So he put his hand on her shoulder _"Maybe you could use some company, If your pilgrimage would let me", _Eli'Zera was shocked to her this _"What?, Do you mean that?", _

_"Well yeah, Your the only one I know right now, I need someone to show me the galaxy", _Eli'Zera turned to him and hugged him for a moment, Then they starred in each others eye's, Eli'Zera then jumped up nervously _"Um ok, Um, How about we go to a bar, I know nice one that's not to far", _Julian then got up, Brushed himself off and walked with Eli'Zera.

The Krogan Krill and the Batarian Falvor stormed the alleys and back streets of Belum until they came upon a warehouse a few miles from the spaceport, They stopped at the door and prepared to break in _"Where are those damn Eclipse", _Said Krill getting angrier by the minute _"Late, Boss says when they show take them out", "Alright, More fun for me", _Said the Krogan now in a better mood _"Don't get too excited, Boss says rip them apart but leave one alive to spread the message to the rest of his Eclipse buddy's", "Fine, Let's get started already",_ Krill took a step back then lundged forward breaking the door down and he and Falvor went in, Two security mechs activated and pulled out their pistols and started firing but they couldn't penetrate the Krogan's shields, Falvor took cover and carefully aimed his assault rifle at the mechs and fired two shots, The mech's heads then exploded and their body's fell to the floor, Krill then walked over them crushing them into the ground, The Krogan and Batarian started sweeping the area checking each room, A Human guard then came running from around a corner charging at the Krogan only to run into a headbutt snapping his head back and breaking his neck, Falvor pulled out his pistol and shot him in the head making sure he was dead, They then made their way to the upper levels where they continued searching, But before they could finish, They rest of the security team came out from the office on the far side of the room _"Ten to one that's where the crew is", _Said Falvor ignoring the guards _"Right, Now comes my favorite part", _Said Krill grinning a vicious smile.

The Krogan charged at the guards as they began to open fire with a mix of rifle, shotgun, and pistol shots but still his shields and armor couldn't be penetrated, Krill kept charging and ran right into one of the guards knocking him out a window then turned and bit down on another guards shoulder crushing his bones causing him to cry out in pain, The rest of the men tried to attack all at once but the Krogan overpowered them all and threw them to the ground, One of the guards reached for his gun and fired it in Krills back but with no effect, Falvor just stood and watched with an evil grin as Krill jumped on the guard crushing his chest in, The rest of the men screamed in horror as they realized they couldn't stop the Krogan, And Krill pulled out his shotgun slowly and silenced them.

Krill and Falvor piled the body's of guards up and continued into the office the security team failed at guarding, As they went in they saw the five crew members they had been searching for, Two Humans, Two Salarians, And a Volus all in the corner shivering with fear, Falvor waited a moment before speaking, Starring them down with his four eye's_ "Before I start you all should know that your not the only witnesses that has the information we seek, You will be given one chance and one chance only to cooperate, If you do not my Krogan friend will rip you apart without hesitation", _The Salarians started to yell for help but no one could hear them, Krill walked to them, Took his shotgun and put it against one of the Salarians head, He pulled out a knife with his other hand and stabbed it through the other Salarians chest and then pulled the trigger of his shotgun killing both Salarians, The rest of the crew were so terrified they couldn't scream, And Falvor continued _"As you can see we're not messing around, now down to business, Two weeks ago a data pad containing very important information made it's way on to your ship, We require this information, You will either give us the information or tell where we can find it", "But we don't know, We're just part of the crew", _Said the Volus terrified, Falvor then shot him in the head, And one of the Humans tried to make a run for it but he didn't make it far, Falvor shot him to, He then turned to the other Human _"Your turn", _But all the Human could do was scream for his life, Falvor turned and walked to the door _"Krill, Shut him up", _Krill then dug his claws deep into the Human's neck and ripped out his throat, And while he was dying Falvor not even bothering to turn around said _"So, Was protecting that information really worth it", "Worth it or not, That was a fun waste of time", _Added Krill, Krill and Falvor then left the office and went back down to the first level but in the doorway stood a Salarian in Eclipse armor _"You two leave quite a path of destruction, Your easy to track", "Your men were late Selchen", _Said the Krogan angerly _"My men thought it would be fun to try and take advantage of the boss's generosity, They've been disposed of", "So why are you here", _Said Falvor equally angry_ "I did your job, Here is the data pad, You don't have to cause destruction and chaos to get things done you know",_ Said the Salarian Selchen_ "If you don't like destruction you better move your ass, This place is gonna blow in about a minute", _Warned the Krogan.

The warehouse went off in a fiery explosion and the force of the blast caused several buildings in the area to collapse as Krill, Falvor, and Selchen safely escaped the area _"Now what", _Growled the Krogan _"Now we report to the boss", _Answered Selchen, They proceeded through the alleys to the darkest corner of Belum where they came upon a communications relay, They activated the relay and their images were projected to a room that had an unsettling feel to it, A man was standing in the room, He was at least 6'5, 200 pounds all muscle, And wore a white suit, But not fancy like, The undershirt was untucked and unbuttoned partially showing his scarred chest and was full of what looked like bullet holes and knife cuts, It was clear he has seen heavy combat throughout his life, He was at least 40 but that was still young in todays society, _"Interesting", _He said while reading the data on his terminal _"Very interesting, You three put on a good show and was able to complete the mission, I enjoyed it, Especially how you handled that crew in the warehouse", "How do you know what went on, I don't recall seeing you around", _Said Falvor curiously and slightly annoyed _"This is my world, Nothing happens that i don't know about, I knew where the data pad was all along but i needed to observe you, don't worry you past the test", "Well now i feel special", _Said Krill sarcastically, He then continued by saying _"Do you need something else or can i go already", "It will take some time for me to crack this data, I'll summon all of you again when i need you, For now take a vacation, and Krill, Learn some patience, It might save your life one day",_ A cold chill was felt in all three of the Mercs after hearing the last line of that sentence, They all knew their bosses reputation, It could be an ominous warning for the future, He then reached over and pressed a button on his counsel and the communications relay was terminated.


End file.
